So last night, I had the pleasure of attending the Cool Kids show in NYC last night at SOBs. The show was EXCELLENT. Easily one of the best hip hop shows I’ve been too. Soo much fun. The Cool Kids absolutely DESTROYED the venue and are awesome guys. I got to meet a bunch of people after the show. Great times all around with some nice surprises including Nice and Smooth and Paper Tiger of Doomtree. Follow me after the jump for some more photos and details.

Here’s a look at the upcoming video for “Prizefight” off of the Hand Over Fist album from Mike Mictlan and Lazerbeak. Rumor has it there will be a free downloadable remix album that will coincide with the video’s full release in September.

As I discussed earlier this month, Substance is making their “official” introduction as an organization tomorrow night, Friday March 27th, with the Manifestation concert at First Ave. In anticipation of the show, the guys at Cake in 15 were able to talk to Substance co-founder Jim Morrey to get the low-down on what Substance is all about. Read it all here!

“The word “manifestation” shares a root with “manifestazioni”, the Italian word for “protest”. Both come from the Latin ”manifestus”, literally, “struck by the hand”, as in, “to forge” or “to make known”. It is an apt title for the second show put on by Substance, a non-profit booking and promotions company with a mission to blend the audiences of music and progressive political issues. Their first concert was the Ripple Effect concert during the Republican National Convention which garnered attention when Rage Against The Machine went out into the crowd to play after being told by the authorities to shut down.

Providence, R.I. rapper Sage Francis headlines Manifestation in the First Avenue Mainroom this Friday 3/27, with support from Cecil Otter, B. Dolan, Building Better Bombs and The God Damn Doo Wop Band. Beyond the music, expect lots of groups to have information and a “Manifest Station”, a networking hub for progressive issues. Cake In 15 caught up with Substance co-founder Jim Forrey to talk about civil disobedience, accumulating debt and the value of art.”

Substance, the Minneapolis based progressive arts, activism, and action organization that brought us the unforgettable Ripple Effect concert outside the capital during the RNC, has announced plans for their first followup to the Ripple Effect. While it’s pretty much impossible for them to top the RE lineup (that featured such amazing appearances as Dead Prez, Michael Franti, Anti-Flag, and the infamous RATM acappella set that sparked a much larger march to the RNC gates), Substance has admittedly done an amazing job to put together a praiseworthy collection of performing artists for the Manifest Station event that will take place at First Avenue on March 27th. As they recently announced, the ever-gracious Sage Francis has signed on to headline this very reasonably priced event, and support is set to be provided by a variety of (mostly) local hip-hop heavyweights; so far the list includes the P.O.S. fronted modern hardcore punk band Building Better Bombs, B. Dolan, Cecil Otter of Doomtree, and the God Damn Doo Wop Band. Not to mention, if you arrive early enough you’ll be able to catch a Cecil Otter headlined local pre-show with The Battle Royale and El Guante, and Big Cats at the 7th St. Entry! And the crazy Rage Against the Machine performance was never announced, so who knows if the Substance guys have anything else crazy up their sleeves for this event… you’ll just have to attend to find out. Visit ManifestStation.org for all the details!

I really don’t want to sell this album short because, this album is one more nail in the coffin as a testament to Rhymesayers Entertainment‘s complete solidity in independent Hip-Hop. I first heard about P.O.S. when Audition dropped in 2006, and I listened to the album and immediately fell in love with it. It was the perfect blend of Hip-Hop and punk attitude. I knew that this album was going to be special but I had no idea what to think.

I read an interview over at Culture Bully and the guy said that this album almost had the same fitting comparison as El-P’s masterpiece, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead. I honestly had the exact same thought in my mind because this album has different soundscapes all over the album but it shows major cohesiveness even while being so diverse with sound.

The opening track is called “Let It Rattle” and it starts off with Stef saying “Sorry I took so long”. I didn’t know the whole story about his album getting stolen at a show until I watched the interview with Kiwibox. P.O.S. rolls right in with an acapella first verse with no real beat in the background and political jabs and uppercuts. When the beat kicks in it’s a barrage of hard hitting drums and anger. This might be one of the most politically driven albums you will hear the whole year, and it is pouring with Stef’s heart and soul. “Savion Glover” is one of those tracks that I could easily see playing at a party with a bunch of kids dancing infectiously to. It has some great cuts that had me smiling within the first five seconds of hearing the track. The track “Goodbye” could very well be the highlight of the album next to “Low Light Low Life”. “Goodbye” (produced by Lazer Beak) has an incredible beat with a great vocal sample, loud ear assaulting horns and Stef’s usual blood, sweat and tears pouring out onto the track like his life depended on it. Like I said before “Low Light Low Life” in opinion is probably the highlight of Never Better which features Sims & Dessa (of the Doomtree crew) on a great beat by Paper Tiger.

This is a fantastic album that is a great benchmark in the quality of music that P.O.S. and Rhymesayers are putting out. I hate to say things so early in the year, but this album will probably be one of my favorites this year. It’s great to see such great quality music coming out early in the year. It makes me proud to be from Minnesnota. It also lets me know that we can look forward to great things from P.O.S. and RSE this year.